Sen. Douye Diri who was born on the 4th day of June, 1959 hails paternally from the communities of Sampou in Kalama-Owinari Compound of Kolokuma/ Opukuma Local Government Area, and maternally from Ayamasa in Engowari-Binware compound of Ekeremor Local Government Area, both in Bayelsa State.
His composite citizenry birthed a responsibility that endeared him to an absolute commitment and concern to the developmental schemas of the State and also re-enforces his vision of knotting the chains of unity in the State.
He was a politically trained teacher and has transferred his knowledge of expertise to a lot, while in the classroom. This has branded him in skilled communication, and better listening capabilities that have resulted in a fostered genuine and productive collaboration with systematic adaptability cum responsiveness to actions and complaints that moderated by persevering character and attitude.
He has unreservedly bore this to play in his governance journey. Having been culturally and traditionally groomed and academically molded and sandwiched on political mastery tutelage, he ventured into initially, a sociocultural political activity and was ultimately elected as the first organizing secretary of Ijaw National Congress (INC) and later had the appointments of Executive Secretary, Centre for Youth Development in Bayelsa State and Commissioner for Youth and Sports respectively.
He also held the positions of Deputy Chief of Staff Government House and the Principal Executive Secretary to the Governor. He was a Council Board Member of the University of Maiduguri.
On his political front, he held the position, Chairman of the People’ Democratic Party Disciplinary Council, Bayelsa State and finally, he was elected to the National Assembly to represent his people in the Federal House Representative and the Senate.
However, when the decision arose to have a replacement for Henry Seriake Dickson at the expiration of his second tenure, the highly competitive position had Douye Diri selected at the party level, though he failed at the general election, but was miraculously reinstated on circumstances only can be explained by the Almighty God. Since his assumption of office as the governor of Bayelsa State, he has demonstrated his competence in the management of the state resources and has continually accounted for it through the monthly transparency briefings and had the annual financial statements timely prepared and audited. Apart from the statutory requirements, the physical projects executed attest, and confirm how the financial resources are managed.
His display of a high level of humility, respect for elders and the rights of the people, patience, tolerance, and other enviable traits have endeared him with more respect. His Excellency is building bridges and sustainable relationships with his predecessors, elders, founders, and others in the state irrespective of political party differences.
Diri has not insulted any of his leaders, followers, or opposition party members, rather he continually humbled himself. Some keen observers called him a fool and indecisive, while others classified him as weak and Jonathan in character, but we see him as a man endowed with Solomonic wisdom.
However, when the bells of the party primaries for the reelection bid began as directed by the Independent National Election Commission for Bayelsa State governorship come November 11, 2023, the battle became a defining moment in the political history of the state as the direction of the state’s leadership and envisioned strategic thinking will be repositioned in tandem to the developmental yearnings of the people.
Though, the incumbent governor, Senator Douye Diri of the Peoples Democratic Party has performed creditably very well based on the various key infrastructural and human capacity development across every facet of the economy. Having achieved such a great milestone cum the uncommon sagacity in uniting the entire state for the task of confronting the developmental challenges have refined him to members of his party in specific and to the entire Bayelsa in general.
Instead of it being a competitive gubernatorial primary election, surprisingly the governor was given the right of first refusal based on his sterling records of performance by the party. This was a big relief to the party faithful as the issue of party primaries that normally result in crisis was averted. This feat was achieved based on his achievements that are already in the public domain which facts are incontestable. Though in-order to fulfil the governing fundamentals, a primary election of the party was conducted under the supervision of the Osun State Governor, Senator Ademola Adeleke, which actually turned out to be the most peaceful and orderly in the annals of such political events in the state.
The general endorsement of Diri and his subsequent emergence as the standard bearer of the PDP in the forthcoming governorship election came after he celebrated his third year in office.
The event, which was celebrated, culminated in the commissioning of life-touching projects cutting across the three senatorial districts. Among these projects were the three senatorial roads linking up riverine communities in a State that is 75 percent marine. Most of these communities have suffered untold hardship as they can only be accessed by river craft and boats.
In the Bayelsa Central Senatorial District, the road to the riverine Southern Ijaw Local Government Area, progressing to Angiama Community and a bridge linking it to Oporoma, the headquarters of Southern Ijaw LGA, is heartwarming. While, at the Bayelsa West Senatorial District, the road from Sagbama to Ekeremor with several bridges has been constructed in pushing forth the road project to the hinterland of riverine communities. At the Bayelsa East Senatorial district; apart from reconstructing the collapsed bridge at Elebele which is a major link to many communities in the senatorial area, the government has mobilized a construction giant, Setraco Nigeria Limited, to commence work on the construction of Nembe–Brass Road, a project which has been in the drawing board for several years. These roads, which are critical to the economic development of the state and the country in general when fully completed, would also go a long way to curb the twin problems of sea piracy and rural-urban drift.
Besides completing the age-long bridge linking the ancient towns of Bassambiri-Nembe and Ogbolomabingi-Nembe, popularly called ‘Unity Bridge,’ whose construction stopped years ago, the Diri administration has also completed the construction of a bridge at Aguobiri Community in Sagbama LGA. These are part of the integrated rural development policy of the Diri administration in its conscious efforts to link up as many communities as possible.
What is happening in Bayelsa State under Governor Diri is a quiet infrastructural revolution to the admiration of even his critics.
Another important road the governor has completed is the first phase of the new Gloryland Drive which runs from the gateway at Igbogene linking to Amassoma Road. The project which is critical to opening up that axis of the Yenagoa metropolis will put an end to the one trunk road syndrome in the state capital, Yenagoa.
Meanwhile, the construction of a ring road connecting Opolo-Elebele to the Igbogene Gateway is in progress and is about 85 percent completed. Apart from the construction of a major highway from the airport to the Igbedi Community which until now was accessible only by river; the completion of the International Cargo Airport is another heartwarming signature project completed by the Diri administration. Besides the economic benefits that come with it, the airport has strategically placed Bayelsa on the world map of flight operations. This is why the governor aptly said during the commissioning of the airport, “This airport will take Bayelsa to the world and the world to Bayelsa State.” In addition to that, the state government embarked on mass construction of over 50 internal roads within the Yenagoa metropolis; among these are the Edepie School Road, Royal FM Road, just to mention but a few.
In the area of education, the Diri administration has endeared itself to the education-conscious people of the state by its huge investment in the sector. Apart from the massive rehabilitation and construction of new schools across the state. The huge investment in the infrastructural concerns of tertiary institutions has yielded positive results, particularly with the accreditation of 71 courses at a stretch at the premier state-owned Niger Delta University, which is no mean achievement.
Also, courses at the state-owned Medical University, College of Education, School of Nursing, and Midwifery are not left out in this arrangement. The massive investment in education points to the premium the government places on human capital development and using education as a cornerstone in redefining its philosophy of development.
It is against this background that the Diri administration, which has core values in the training and retraining of teachers; for the first time in the history of Bayelsa State, engaged the services of Microsoft in training 12,000 teachers to update and equip them fully with contemporary skills in the emerging world of Information Technology, ICT. Today teachers in the state fondly call themselves ‘Digital Teachers.’
Besides the introduction of the teaching of Indigenous Ijaw Language at the Niger Delta University, post-primary and primary schools are not left out in the promotion of Ijaw identity and cultural heritage as the fourth largest ethnic group in multilingual Nigeria. The Diri administration is leaving no stone unturned in the building of science and technical colleges in each of the eight local government areas of the state. Six of such colleges have already been completed. The broad objective of the programme is a paradigm shift from the past glory of theory to that of practical acquisition of skills, rooted in the promotion of the ideals of self-reliance and entrepreneurial-driven economy, as well as curbing the problem of unemployment among youths. There is no doubt, that this singular vision is changing the human capital development narrative of the state.
One positive attitude that cannot be left unmentioned is Diri’s servant-leader culture which he has brought to bear on the governance of the state through his quick response to addressing emerging issues.
One can recount an occasion when the Bayelsa State Chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, brought to the attention of the governor some problems hampering the effective discharge of their duties, ranging from no promotion to non-payment of the backlog of 18 percent minimum wage arrears owed the teachers since 2011, with the speed of light, the government promptly approved and paid the arrears owed the teachers and accordingly implemented their outstanding promotions since 2014.
In the same vein, the governor who is often called the ‘Miracle Governor’ also approved and paid the state government’s part of the counterpart funding for all primary health care workers across all the LGAs in the state, essentially to boost the morale of the workers. This is in addition to the full implementation of the N30,000 minimum wage which had been an issue of foot dragging. “This is just the beginning of good governance in the state.”
Another act that has not only endeared the governor to the ordinary people of the state but has also rekindled the hope of retirees in the scheme of things, is the regular payment of monthly pensions and the provision of a monthly budget of N200 million targeted at offsetting the backlog of gratuities which have been pending under previous administrations. It is interesting to note that the state governor intermittently released billions of Naira to pay gratuities of retirees over the years in addition to the monthly N200 million payment of gratuities.
However, in the midst of lean resources, when COVID-19 struck, Diri rose to the occasion with uncommon courage in confronting the seemingly overwhelming pandemic by rolling up his sleeves in assembling competent health and medical personnel to tackle the menace.
Apart from providing a wide range of drugs and procurement of medical equipment in combating the life-threatening disease, the government spared no effort at distributing palliatives to all nooks and crannies of the state to cushion the impact of the pandemic. Unlike Lagos, Kano, and other states where the Federal Government had direct financial interventions in billions of Naira to assist those states in the fight against the disease, Bayelsa under Diri single-handedly prosecuted the fight against the virus.
It is also pertinent to mention, that just in the midst of the last devastating flood, Diri, in his characteristic sense of humanitarian feeling, stood in empathy with flood victims by providing succor in terms of medicare, food, bedding, and temporary homes for the flood victims. The governor appreciated and understood the feelings and aspirations of the ordinary people of the state.
It is against this background that when the right of first refusal to fly the flag of the PDP was given to the governor; it did not come as a surprise to those who have been following his life-touching development programmes with keen interest. The right of first refusal, which is happening for the first time in the political history of Bayelsa, right from the old Rivers State, is cheering development based on the sterling indices of the performance of Governor Diri.
Just like the saying that, the voice of the people, is the voice of God, and that a good term in office deserves another. For the first time, Bayelsans have all come out openly to speak with one voice to endorse Governor Douye Diri for a second term in the expectation that the ongoing projects are completed, commissioned, and delivered to the beneficiaries.
In addition, the governor with his culture of continuing on abandoned projects executed by his predecessors is reactivated. Moreover, the accrued pension liabilities are refinanced to be wholly settled and the current employees on the old pension scheme are migrated to the contributory pension scheme.
Finally, the perennial rain flood experienced in the state can be remedied through the construction of a massive drainage system.
